Mikel Arteta will likely face some big Arsenal dilemmas over the coming weeks despite two boosts coming his way.

A best-case scenario would be the Gunners having 14 games left of the 2024/25 season and with that will come several big squad decisions.

Injuries have been a consistent problem for Arteta this season with Martin Odegaard, Gabriel Magalhaes and Ben White all missing periods.

All three players were forced to undergo surgery and while two are unlikely to feature again in this campaign, Saka is eyeing a return in April.

The 23-year-old has missed the last few months because of a hamstring tear, but a return to training is expected soon if it has not already arrived.

"He's got a good chance [of returning in April]. He is going to be here [at London Colney], hopefully, more with the ball at his feet than he has had. He's getting closer; he's stepping up and making very good progress," Arteta admitted in March.

Saka has not been involved in a matchday squad for Arsenal since December with Nathan Butler-Oyedeji deputising on the bench in his place and it is very likely the academy star is ultimately replaced by Saka.

However, his tenure in the senior squad could last a little bit longer with Riccardo Calafiori expected to miss the next few weeks.

The issue was clearly serious enough to see him depart national team camp early and miss the second Nations League game against Germany.

"We still don’t know if he's injured. Ricky feels something strange in his knee but we still don’t know," Italy manager Luciano Spalletti said.

Reports from Italy later revealed that a scan showed a lesion to his collateral ligament and he will likely be in need a few weeks to recover.

After that however, the 22-year-old will likely be able to feature again and go into Arsenal's strongest 20-man squad, alongside Saka, with one of Kieran Tierney or Oleksandr Zinchenko making way.

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